NEW YORK — When he leaves Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” on Aug. 6 after hosting nearly 2,600 episodes, Jon Stewart will have logged too many great moments to count. But here are 10 Stewart highlights — both on and off the show — worth remembering:
Hail to the chief
December 2000: Reporting on George W. Bush’s remarks as he clinched the presidency, Stewart replayed Bush declaring, “I was not elected to serve one party,” to which he retorted, “You were not ELECTED.” Then back to Bush saying, “I ask for you to pray for this great nation.” To which Stewart added somberly, “We’re waaaaay ahead of you.”
Grief-stricken
September 2001: On his first show following the Sept. 11 attacks, Stewart, with his emotions barely in check, delivered a soul-bearing statement of grief, “so that we can drain whatever abscess is in our hearts and move on to the business of making you laugh, which we haven’t been able to do very effectively lately.” He went on: “Our show has changed. I don’t doubt that. What it’s become, I don’t know.”
No monkey business
October 2004: Stewart appeared as a guest on CNN’s quarrelsome “Crossfire,” where he startled its hosts by criticizing them for their “partisan hackery” and “doing theater when you should be doing debate.” He implored them to “stop hurting America,” and when Tucker Carlson, the show’s conservative host, invited him to drop the serious act and be funny, Stewart shot back, “No, I’m not going to be your monkey!”